Welcome, Ruth!

The baby has landed!

(click any image to view larger version)

November 17th FINALLY arrived, and a whole slew of us trekked out to meet the newest member of the family.

12 adults and only 1 brought a camera!

Here are the best of the shots.

There'll be time for more intimate portraits later.



Though in her dad's arms, "Roo" is interested her in Grandpa Adams...

And the proud & excited grandmas!

The shirt says "Hi, I'm new here."









Meeting Grandpa Benting for the first time, and her godfather, John, too:

Very interested in the balloon.

With her new mom & dad!












Meeting cousin Serena for the first time, Ruth was fascinated! Serena was tickled to be the "big girl" for a change.









No more airports! Leaving PDX.

Not going home yet. First, the requisite stop at Elmer's.











Got a bit bored waiting for everyone to get there and get our breakfast order placed...

OK, her Aunt Margaret started it! Serena demonstrating her architectural prowess.








Ruth: "Hey, waiter! Down here!"













Breakfast in America

Who's the cutest thing? Why, that'd be YOU!

Congratulations to the entire family, and another warm welcome for Ruth.







(You can leave a comment for me, or for each other to view,
by clicking the link below:)

In which we become godparents to a little girl from China


(click on any image to view larger)

Her name is Yan, or "Yanyan," but her new first name is Ruth ("Roo" for short). Her parents, who are in-laws of ours by marriage, are on their way home from China, where they have been spending their first days with her.

She's just under a year old and a bit small for her cohort (size 6 to 9 months, everyone!), but sleeps all night and is delightful by day. Her adoptive father taught her how to blow a raspberry and she has already demonstrated her new skill by razzing the orphanage director.


None of us (godparents or adoptive parents) have any parenting experience, so this ought to be interesting. I think we're all still a bit shellshocked, after dreaming of this day for so long, to have it become reality. It's strange to think that families from opposite sides of the planet can recombine this way.


She comes home this week and it's impossible for me to predict how I'll feel when I hold her for the first time.

Good Art Should Feed Your Soul...

...but bad art can be pretty cool too.

I know it's weenie to write an "entry" that consists primarily of links to other websites, but I was greatly cheered today to be directed to:

The Monet Cook Online Gallery, in which you can revel in impressionistic paintings set in the 19th-century French countryside of haystacks and sunsets, but also populated by beautifully rendered Sleestaks (yes, those rubbery green lizard-creatures from Sid & Marty Krofft's Land of the Lost). No point in trying to describe further: in this case, a picture really is worth a thousand words. ("Sleestaks at Giverny" is my new wallpaper.)

The Carved Egg Gallery, where you can commission a work of art engraved on an emu egg. Caveat!!!!! "Unfortunately, there are limits to what you are about to see. Browsers, monitors and other hardware used to view images on the internet vary, the color range and resolution are restricted according to the computer system used to access the internet. What does this mean to you? Just that these photos will probably not do full justice to the depth and perception of the different shades reached in the carving or sculpting of these eggs." Browse at your own risk.

Wes Clark's Avocado Memories, a sort of online journal/scrapbook dealing with the author's childhood home. His parents were very hands-on about implementing their own home version of pop culture trends, such as a Polynesian patio. There is something very charming to me about the idea of these folks simply constructing for themselves the design ideas they admired...and inevitably painting them avocado, or for a bit of stylish contrast, harvest gold. I like the fact that they didn't wait around for things to come to them, but stepped boldly forward to grab the gusto! This site is more of a loving essay than another coffee-table celebration of kitsch, warmly endowed with discussions of real people trying to live the life that drew them.

Enjoy!